Ali Farokhmanesh may have the hardest name to spell of any basketball player in the country (but, hey my name is Tilly Gokbudak and I am not a girl- see earlier entry), but the University of Northern Iowa's star player hit a game-winning three-point shots with :35 remaining over top-seeded Kansas in Oklahoma City on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers beat the Jayhawks, who many including President Barack Obama, ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale and my cousin Michael from Rock Hill, SC, thought would win the NCAA championship (my choice of Georgetown lost in the very first round!), 69-67.
"The Des-Moines Regsiter" reported that the Panthers landed at the airport in Waterloo, Iowa, which is relatively close to the UNI campus in Cedar Falls at about 2:30 a.m. But, there were around 50 fans to greet them there.
"We thought it might be a little too late or a little too cold," said Ali F., a senior from Iowa City who turns 22 on Apr. 16, "This is awesome."
The same newspaper quoted Panthers player Jordan Egleseder who said he was pleased with the turnout for the team.
"Yeah, it's crazy," Eglesder said. "I wasn't expecting at all. Our fans have been great all year."
"The Kansan," the student newspaper for the University of Kansas had a different headline about the game: "Stellar season ends in heartbreak."
The Jayhawks' coach Bill Self has reportedly said that he will never watch any taped footage of the game.
SIDEBAR: Alas, the Brigham Young Cougars will not be advancing to the Sweet 16 either. The team from Provo, Utah, was impresive in their first-round win over Florida, but they fell to Kansas State in the second round. But, the Cougars' star player Jimmer Fredette left an impression on Oklahoma City Thunder's star player Kevin Durant, who had the following tweet before BYU's game on Saturday: "How many points is Jimmer Fredette gonna score tonight? He is a monster....
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